Cyclone forecast and the weather guys of BD

Comparing to the previous years' cyclones, the loss of human lives was much less during SIDR. Even then it exceeded 3,000...not to mention the millions that have been severely affected. 3,243 deaths according to yesterday's official reports. 3,243 precious lives...lost forever.

Was it possible to keep the number down?...To spare at least some of them?...Could a better storm forecast have prevented this loss?...What were the weather guys doing?...How come a "4 number hushiary" signal became a "10 number moha bipod shonket" within hours?

Was it like this that a mild storm suddenly gathered strength to become a Category IV hurricane and started heading towards Bangladesh?

I asked google. And of the 2 of the first 5 pages that I opened contained clear warnings that the depression forming near the Andaman's may become a Category IV or V hurricane and hit Bangladesh. I did not search any more because I'm sure there will be hundreds of similar pages.

Now, I feel like asking again what exactly were the weather people of Bangladesh were doing all these time?...What on earth were they so busy with that they missed such a huge catastrophe that was evident?...Maybe I should ask if they will take any responsibility of the deaths...

Following links are to the first 2 pages that I visited before making this post - the first one warned of the cyclone as early as on the morning of 12th November.

http://www.thedailygreen.com/environmental-news/blogs/hurricanes-storms/cyclone-sidr-47111211

http://scienceblogs.com/intersection/2007/11/cyclone_sidr_category_5.php


...I lost my grandmother in the cyclone of 1991..

UNDP Annual Report 2007

UNDP Annual Report 2007 can be downloaded from:
http://www.undp.org/publications/annualreport2007/

STATE OF THE MICROCREDIT SUMMIT CAMPAIGN REPORT 2006

STATE OF THE MICROCREDIT SUMMIT CAMPAIGN REPORT 2006 can be found at:
www.microcreditsummit.org/pubs/reports/socr/2006/SOCR06.pdf

Call for proposals - grants for developing country researchers studying poverty

The Poverty and Economic Policy (PEP) Research Network (www.pep-net.org)has announced a call for proposals for its 2008 competition, in which up to 29 grants for a total value of $CAN 1,800,000 will be awarded.

This is only for researchers originating from and residing in a developing country. In addition to the research grants, all selected teams will also be eligible for additional funding to participate in training workshops, PEP meetings, international conferences, study visits and other activities.

Grants will be awarded under four programs:
1. MPIA-PMMA CORE PROGRAM: 6-9 grants of $CAN 20,000 (plus up to $CAN 30,000 in additional funding) will be awarded for proposals submitted to either Poverty Monitoring, Measurement and Analysis (PMMA) or Modeling and Policy Impact Analysis (MPIA) subnetworks, which have the following thematic priorities:
Multidimensional poverty, public spending, intrahousehold allocation and poverty dynamics, the poverty impacts of growth, public spending and agricultural policies.
DEADLINE: January 7, 2008.

2. CBMS NETWORK RESEARCH GRANTS: NA for Bangladesh

3. PEP-AUSAID POLICY IMPACT EVALUATION RESEARCH INITIATIVE (PIERI): 6 grants of up to $CAN 140,000 will be awarded to conduct policy impact evaluations. Projects should be designed to evaluate interventions that aim at improving human capital and alleviating poverty, e.g. child health programs, schooling programs, training programs, safety net programs.
DEADLINE (expression of interest): November 30, 2007.

4. PEP-OPHI Human Development Capabilities Initiative: Jointly with the Oxford Poverty and Human Development Initiative (OPHI; www.ophi.org.uk), PEP will offer 5 grants of $CAN 20,000 (plus up to $CAN 30,000 in additional funding) for research on analyzing poverty in the multidimensional context of the capabilities approach. Proposals are welcome for one of two themes, listed below:
Theme 1: Missing Dimensions of Poverty Data
Theme 2: Identification and Multidimensional Poverty
DEADLINE: January 7, 2008.

FOR MORE INFORMATION and to submit a proposal, please consult the "Call for Proposals" section on the PEP web site (www.pep-net.org). PEP is funded by the Australian Aid Agency (AusAID; www.ausaid.gov.au), the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA; www.cida-acdi.gc.ca) and the International Development Research Centre (IDRC; www.idrc.ca).

Group Photo with Dr. S R Osmani

Welcome Fattah Bhai and Saikat Da

Thanks to Saikat Da and Fattah Bhai for joining the group blog. Hope you will contribute regularly and take this initiative forward. By the way, Fattah Bhai your description shows "Mirpur Road" which reminds me of George Harrison's "Jessore Road". Cheers.

The Concert for Bangladesh--Part 5

Cities in the Knowledge Economy: New Governance Challenges - Final report

http://topics.developmentgateway.org/glocalization/rc/ItemDetail.do?itemId=1113343
The report argues that cities must be recognised as key players in the knowledge economy, encouraging entrepreneurship and avoiding social polarisation. To capitalise on local strengths, cities need to improve the links between research...
Contributed by Giulia D'Amico on 04 Sep , 2007

Visit the First Bangladeshi Law Based Website

Chancery Research and Consultant (CRC-Bangladesh), a socio- legal research organisation is going to launch the first ever searchable inter-active Bangladeshi Legal Information Website ( www.clcbd.org).

The website includes resources for judges, lawyers, researchers, academics, law enforcement agencies, journalists, human rights activists, students, entrepreneurs and mass people of the society, both at home and abroad.

Gaye Doganoglu: '''Tackling the issue of climate change has become an imperative of the day''

http://topics.developmentgateway.org/water/rc/ItemDetail.do?itemId=1105641
[19/06/2007 15:00:00] ''Climate change is an issue which our citizens feel strongly about, and we believe that real solutions are not possible unless major changes are made to the way our cities are organised and managed,'' stressed today Chair of...
Contributed by Giulia D'Amico on 21 Jun , 2007

The Need to Protect Ancient Forests ( Greenpeace)

http://topics.developmentgateway.org/water/rc/ItemDetail.do?itemId=1105587
The world's ancient forests are truly diverse. They include boreal, temperate and tropical forests, coniferous and broadleaf forests, rainforests and mangroves. Together they maintain environmental systems that are essential for life on Earth. They...
Contributed by Anuradha Bhattacharjee on 21 Jun , 2007

"'The Bottom Billion': Unsentimental prescriptions for poverty"

http://topics.developmentgateway.org/aideffectiveness/rc/ItemDetail.do?itemId=1111809
This is a review by Niall Ferguson in The International Herald Tribute (June 29, 2007) of "The Bottom Billion Why the Poorest Countries Are Failing and What Can Be Done About It" (Paul Collier, Oxford University Press). Excerpts: "Collier's title...
Contributed by John Daly on 14 Aug , 2007

The Knowledge divide and the poverty divide

The Knowledge divide and the poverty divide
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/aideffectiveness/rc/ItemDetail.do?itemId=1109365
UNCTAD has recently published a report and a series of press releases alarming on the gape between rich and poor countries regarding knowledge and innovation: The front cover of the Least Developed Countries Report 2007, subtitled "Knowledge,...
Contributed by Thomas BEKKERS on 26 Jul , 2007

World Bank struggles to meet aid target

World Bank struggles to meet aid target
http://topics.developmentgateway.org/aideffectiveness/rc/ItemDetail.do?itemId=1111725
The World Bank faces “an uphill task” persuading donor countries to meet its fundraising target of $39bn for the International Development Association, the bank’s concessionary lending arm that provides funds to the world’s poorest countries, Robert...
Contributed by Brian Wilcox on 13 Aug , 2007

MDS "Rural Development" Final Exam will be held on 26th August 2007

DEV 504: "Rural Development" Final Exam will be held on Sunday ( 26th August 2007) at AH 19th Floor ( Class Room 1).

Welcome to MDS Forum

Dear MDS Colleagues & Respected Teachers

You all are invited to this blog facility to contribute and share your thoughts on development issues. This forum can be a good place to stay in touch. There are ample benefits of staying in touch which I dare not explain to you.

Let’s just start blogging.

Regards

Dilir